More Doctors workforce to have more Brazilians in its ranks

Health Minister Arthur Chioro expects the foreign doctors hired under the More Doctors program tend to gradually give way to Brazilian doctors in time. According to the Health Ministry, out of the 4,146 positions opened in the program's latest round of recruitment, 98% have been filled – all of them by Brazilian doctors.

“More Doctors is here to stay,” Chioro said Tuesday (Feb. 26), emphasizing that the workforce recruited by the program is changing to a different makeup with more than 5,000 Brazilian professionals in its ranks – over a third of the total. “This is an important change, which I think will set a trend for the coming years,” he added.

In total, 14,462 doctors are currently working under the program, providing care for 50 million Brazilians in 3,785 municipalities.

According to the Health Ministry report, 85 openings are still unfilled in 47 municipalities – most of them in the North region. According to the minister, in addition to allocating doctors to work in poor, underserved municipalities, More Doctors has boosted primary care. Some 94% of the population using the services is reported by the ministry to have rated the program as satisfactory.

Translated by Mayra Borges